How Did the Press Cover Joseph Pulitzer?
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This week we focused on finding research through primary and secondary sources using bases such as Gale, JSTOR, and other High Point databases. Focusing on our individual EOTO journalism hero (Joseph Pulitzer) we researched information through these various databases to answer key questions such as: - How did the press write about, portray, and treat my Hero?
- Did they write about him/her during their lifetime or after?
- Did they praise their work or vilify it?
Background
As summarized in my previous EOTO key post on Joseph Pultizer, he a publisher and American journalist known for creating a controversial type of journalism with American businessman and newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. Much controversy came from Pulitzer's support of organized labor, the attack of trusts and monopolies, and exposed political corruption according to U.S History's biography. With this controversialism, he was driven to raise the standards within the journalism profession. He is most commonly known for the Pulitzer Prize which is the most prestigious award in American journalism.
How did the press write about, portray, and treat my Hero?
Through looking at various articles via JSTOR, I have discovered a few ways of how Mr. Pulitzer was portrayed. These portrayals include a controversial and less positive viewpoint specifically through the lens of The Pulitzer prize, an impactful and positive viewpoint in which articles commend and recognize Mr. Pulitzer's accomplishments including Yellow Journalism, work, and establishment of the Pulitzer prize, and thirdly, a viewpoint of Mr. Pulitzer's direct impact to the field of journalism.
As seen in William Schuman's article, "William Schuman, World War II, and the Pulitzer Prize" in The Musical Quarterly of Volume 89, readers can observe the more controversial and less positive viewpoint in which Mr. Pulitzer is analyzed for his decisions of the prizes going to "less noteworthy works throughout his history" The article also discussed Mr. Pulitzer's favoritism of prizes that embodied written word over music and art. Mr. Pulitzer was also portrayed as an individual of high morals- "In those early days, another person also shaped the Pulitzer Prizes into awards that would honor works that unapologetically sought to better the moral and nationalistic spirit of the age."
From an impactful, positive standpoint of the press, Mr. Pulitzer was acknowledged for his innovation and creativity in advancing the newspaper through yellow journalism as we can observe in the American Journal of Sociology (Volume 29, "The Natural History of the Newspaper") which was written in 1923 by Robert E. Park, "Pulitzer had discovered while he was editor of the St. Louis Post Dispatch that the way to fight popular causes was not to advocate them on the editorial page but to advertise them-write them up-in the news columns. It was Pulitzer who invented muck-raking. It was this kind of journalism that enabled Pulitzer, within a period of six years, to convert the old New York World, which was dying of inanition when he took it, into the most talked-about if not the most widely circulated, paper in New York City." From this perspective, the press favors Pulitzer's advertisement style of column writing, just one example of the many ways his writing diversified him from other writers.
Correspondingly, in The Wilson Quarterly's 1976 edition, "Man of the World" Pulitzer is recognized in a positive light, "He possessed remarkable foresight and had an uncanny ability to recognize value where others didn't. He was willing to take risks based on his insights when others remained timid." The article also acknowledges the fact that at one point Pulitzer reduced the price of his paper to a penny because he "preferred power to profits."
Did they write about him/her during their lifetime or after?
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Mr. Pulitzer was spoken a great amount amongst the press and individuals as he had such dominance in exposing the government and largely ignored news which newspapers avoided publishing before 1800. He introduced certain methods which were recognized as "yellow" which caught the attention of mass numbers of readers by "muck-racking" (exposing established institutions and leaders as corrupt.) "He enlisted the public in a battle fought, avowedly, in its own interest. News, rather than editorial imprecations, became in his hands the chief weapon of assault upon graft, privilege, and political corruption." (The Southwestern Social Science Quarterly 1933.) Pulitzer was also an active member in the military and politics as he became a leading national figure in the Democratic Party and was elected congressman from New York. Pulitzer had a large impact on the media during the Spanish-American War also known as the "media war" during the 1890s where journalism displayed dramatic events as a powerful force that helped advance the United States into war with Spain. William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer infamously used techniques of drama, romance, and exaggeration to sell millions of newspapers which later became known as a widely discussed topic known as yellow journalism.
Joseph Pulitzer is still discussed today as he is mainly known for the Pulitzer Prize award which is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, and online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States.
Pulitzer Prize Administrator Dana Canedy announces the winners of the 2020 Pulitzer Prizes in New York, N.Y. on Monday, May 4, 2020
This announcement marks the 104th year of the Prizes.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HBXCm9ovaU)
Did they praise their work or vilify it?
Because Joseph Pulitzer dedicated most of his work to the controversy of yellow journalism, many people, even the president of the time, Teddy Roosevelt formulated strong opinions against him as seen in The Wall Street Journal's article, "‘Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People’ Review: The Ur Media Mogul", "Teddy Roosevelt never referred to Joseph Pulitzer as an enemy of the people, exactly, but he did call him a “creature of the gutter” who was guilty of “unspeakable degradation” and who deserved to be thrown into prison. Exasperating a president might not have been the fabled publisher’s greatest accomplishment. But like much of the way Pulitzer redefined journalism during the last Gilded Age, it certainly makes him relevant now."
As discussed in The Hollywood Reporter's article, "'Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People': Film Review", the film is reviewed and acknowledges the fact that Mr. Pultizer understood that to be effective and influential in his job, he could not satisfy everyone. "Pulitzer realized, as the film puts it, that "to do its job, a newspaper had to make enemies." And he understood how to draw maximum attention while doing so. He published the names of tax-dodging elites — lists of in which some names had a shocking "$0" in the column of taxes paid. Never shy about public shaming, he would later start a campaign in which impoverished New Yorkers would collect their pennies to do what the government and the rich wouldn't: build a mammoth pedestal for the Statue of Liberty to stand on."
However, people also heavily relied on the writings of Pulitzer and became a national figure as people's main trusted source of information about current events and otherwise unspoken about topics that were considered too politically charged, for example, the Spanish-American War ("media war") during the 1890s where journalism displayed dramatic events as a powerful force that helped advance the United States into war with Spain.
Works Cited:
Swayne, S. (2006). William Schuman, World War II, and the Pulitzer Prize. The Musical Quarterly, 89(2/3), 273-320. Retrieved March 31, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25172842
MORRIS, J. (2010). Man of the World. The Wilson Quarterly (1976-), 34(1), 28-33. doi:10.2307/20700657
CLARK, C. (1933). YELLOW JOURNALISM AS A MODE OF URBAN BEHAVIOR. The Southwestern Social Science Quarterly, 14(3), 238-245. Retrieved March 31, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/42864897
Staff, T. (2019, March 05). 'Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of The PEOPLE': Film review. Retrieved March 31, 2021, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/joseph-pulitzer-voice-people-1191550
Anderson, J. (2019, April 11). 'Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People' review: The UR media mogul. Retrieved March 31, 2021, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/joseph-pulitzer-voice-of-the-people-review-the-ur-media-mogul-11555011698
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